New surcharges on Nekton cruises?

[Darnold9999]

For me I get acclimatized to the motion. Takes 24 to 48 hours to get acclimatized to moderate motion. This assumes that I don't get actually sick - once I pass that threshold nothing works but getting in the water or onto dry land - or drugs that knock me out cold.

However everyone is different so you can only try it out. Nekton is a good first choice for a liveaboard if you get seasick. If you can't manage that boat nothing is going to work for you.

Serious motion - out in open water with a swell rolling the boat - no amount of time gets me used to that. I just stand outside and watch the horizon - try to keep my head as still and level as possible.

My solution (for any liveaboard) is to take a sleeping pill the first night. Usually that is the roughest part of the trip as usually the boat is travelling from port to some more remote spot and you are often in open unprotected water. Sleeping through that works for me. After that I am usually OK except when the boat is being moved and the trip takes it out of shelter. In that case my solution is to remain on deck, outside, on my feet, watching a fixed point on the horizon. I try to find the point on the boat where the motion is the least - usually an upper deck centre of the boat, but that varies from boat to boat.

The worst spots are when you are diving in open water, i.e. not protected from swells. Particularly diving from a RIB, skiff or panga or other small boat. Always a challenge not to lose lunch. Not an issue on the Nekton as you almost always are diving from the dive deck.

Good luck!

 

[Gtoph]

I can get onto 1/2 dozen liveaboards for free- I'll pay to take her on the Nekton.

I am happily a Nektoid. I like that.

Hey knock yourself out My only point was that the wave action can still be felt even though it may be reduced when compared to 'normal' boats.

 

[deepstops]

An old mariner's adage comes to mind for anyone who thinks there's a ship out there that isn't going to rock.... There's a sea for every ship and ship for every sea.

 

[Shasta_man]

And RoatanMan, hook us less fortunate but equally deserving divers up with some of those free live aboard passes. Liveaboards are the only way to go

 

[Doc]

And RoatanMan, hook us less fortunate but equally deserving divers up with some of those free live aboard passes. Liveaboards are the only way to go

Be very very nice to everyone you meet. Marry a major player in the travel industry. Teach her to dive. Encourage her to keep her job so you can go diving.

Next time, I'm just going to marry a rich one. Hmmm- that's what she says, too.:gorgeous:

Not every liveabaord suits everyone's needs. Go, take a look around. Much as with another resort on any island you visit- liveaboards welcome potential guests for a come aboard look-see. Whenever you travel, you should expand your experience base and take every opportunity for a close look~ just ask permission to board!

Sometimes this is hard to do, like on Roatan- where the different resorts and tourist zones are so geographically spread out. But liveaboards quite often cluster in very tight bunches due to draft requirements, service availability and wharf sizes.

Never hurts to take a careful, comparative look.

 

[Shasta_man]

so she doesn't read the forums, I see.

i'm thinking I just need to meet you to cut straight to the finishline. HA HA HA...

 

[Doc]

so she doesn't read the forums, I see.

No, she doesn't read the forums. She, unlike me, has a real job.

Liveaboards are the only way to go

But she has noodled that out, no- liveabaords are not the only way to go.... not in every and all case.

Liveaboards usually offer high volume of diving, but always at a much greater cost than and land based operation.

Sometimes there is more to do in a far flung location beyond diving- as much as I might choke when I say that. To go to Galpagos, Red Sea or even Tobago without doing extensive terrestrial side trips~ that would be a real mistake.

Those three examples are representative of my uphill battle of logic on this one. You can't put a gun to a NA diver and get them to do anything but a Liveaboard in the Galapagos. I have taken more than one experienced Galapadiver there and just done Land based- they were never sorry!

The Red Sea (North) is largely day trippers. Better to do a liveabaord, but plan time at the ends to get that photo on the Camel in front of the pyramids.

Tobago? Sit on a metal hotel bobbing offshore for the week, or maybe dive dive your brains out in Speyside- still having time every afternoon for a jeep ride into the jungle. People are always pining for "island natural lifestyle". Tobago has the last vestiges of it with its Northern Rastafarian culture.

Many time liveaboards live and stay in business for no reason other than bad marketing or difficult access to land based options. Tobago is a prime example.

Liveaboards quite often are to bound by operational issues to go anywhere outside the scope of dive resorts. (The Bay Islands Aggressor) If they could have only found the audience for a Cisne/Swan Island trip. The same thing for Grenada- they never make it to where a liveaboard "should" take you, to the NE barrier islands.

Fuel Costs cutting itinneraries? The Utila Aggressor has been an example since its inception.

Tastes a little too exotic for most? Antares II faded away from Los Roques.

You can do a South Pacific Liveaboard and see the same stuff you can from a resort based dive op in the Philippines. The North Americans will gladly pay 50-70% more for the pleasure of puking over a rail versus staying at a resort "we" have never heard of.

Liveaboards over land based? It's not always a matter of good or better, sometimes it's just marketing and the purchase of ad space in the dive magazines.

Buy a British or European dive Magazine. Even if you can't read a given language, read the ads in the back. See who is selling the land based to the Europeans over any liveaboard.

The best way to see the Bahamas? In that case, it's best to pick your liveaboard!

 

[WOODMAN]

When are you going?

I booked for September 13th. I made my booking on June 28th, and received my package from them on Friday, July 4th. No mention of this new charge.

We leave Aug.2nd for the Medio Reef! (drum roll, please..) We were hooked by all the interesting buzz about this site, and now we have to see for ourselves- goofy surcharges and all. By the way, I am sure that they will get around to sticking you for this surcharge in their own good time. If you escape, let me know so I can whimper about it. Also, it seems that this thread has been Hijacked good and proper, but then again I guess that we have all said what we needed to about this. (I still like that "semi-mandatory" business... Is that like 'partially pregnant'?) Any further commentary is always appreciated, however- Nektoid or not Woody

 

[Shasta_man]

As Woodman points out, we've drifted a bit though we started on topic... I'll try to close with these last comments.

Doc, I agree generally with your sentiments but handle them this way. As I have a lot fewer trips, I need to make them count.

I figured out that, as my focus was diving and that problems happen, that I don't try to combine diving and land based touring. First I dive, then everything else. Then I got what I wanted most and I can roll with the rest. If anything happens, we can convert some land time. Then I can relax and completely enjoy the land rather than whether the diving is going to work out. I also dive first to try to minimize the effect of the sick people you inevitably contact in traveling. I can walk anywhere with a plugged nose but can't dive at all.

Other benefits of the liveaboard is it's usually cooler on the water, sometimes substantially (Palau). Divers you are with are usually though not always more interested in diving, and everything can come out of that including skill, ability, interests, preparedness, gear. Not many people pay a couple grand to dive all day unless they really want to. It's tough to beat the commute to the dive site or even just to get on the skiff. Just getting up and going straight to boat without the organization that sometimes has to go on to bring everybody together for the land dive. Being at the dive site first. The extra things you can see when you're out on the water all day. The views. Different spots anchoring every day (though anchoring in front of a city on St Croix with outdoor concert until 3 AM was not what I had in mind). You have more control over the neighbors/quality of life when you're not staying in the resort.

Last thing is that I find that between 4-5 dives a day, logging dives, dealing with a camera, wanting some relax time, and time with the little woman, that there isn't much time left in the day anyway.

 

[ChainDiver]

Just got back from the the Pilot, Northwestern Bahamas.

No mention of the 20$ sat phone charge.

The trip was great, weather perfect, great crew, great bunch of divers.

Highlight of the trip: piggy backing on unexso's shark feed at shark junction.
Low point of the trip: first dive organization, could have done some set up Saturday night.